Biography of Paula S. Wallace, President of the Savannah College of Art and Design   HBO Films president Colin Callender, Paula Wallace and entertainer Gregory Hines at the 2002 Commencement ceremony. As president and co-founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design, Paula S. Wallace is the chief executive officer of the largest art and design college in America. Through her persistent quest for excellence, the college, which began in 1979 with 71 students and a handful of faculty, has grown to include 6,500 students and more than 1,000 full-time employees. In addition to being an educator, Paula Wallace is an author, a designer, a curator and an art collector, an administrator, a strategist and a philanthropist. Her accomplishments are many. Educator Prior to guiding the development of the curriculum for the 22 majors and 31 minors offered by the college, Paula Wallace began her career as a classroom teacher, winning accolades from students and colleagues alike. She created original instructional material and initiated special programs for gifted students, leading off-campus trips and other co-curricular activities to enhance the learning experience. At SCAD, she designed an innovative schedule allowing for longer class periods meeting twice a week, keeping Fridays free for extra help sessions, studio work and research. She has promoted pedagogy as a profession of honor and worth. Author Paula Wallace initiated the college's first publications and marketing tools and has encouraged the art of writing by creating a publishing division, Design Press. Utilizing the illustration and writing talents of faculty, staff and students, Design Press provides a vibrant venue for creative expression and for promoting the college and its resources. Wallace has published six books, with others forthcoming. Published titles include Remember This, Rick and Rocky and the Life Around the World series, a collection of four books. She also is a lyricist and composer, adapting several books into musical theater for children. One of these, A World Tree Journey, has been performed to critical acclaim at such esteemed events as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C. Designer In addition to shaping the graphic design and corporate identity of the college, Paula Wallace excels at architectural design. She has utilized her talent to envision the college's signature look and to lead the in-house team of designers and craftspeople in creating an award-winning, unique urban campus. The manner in which the college has adapted more than 50 buildings has earned awards from many organizations, including the Historic Savannah Foundation, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the Georgia Cities Foundation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Main Street Center, the Art Deco Societies of America, the American Institute of Architects and the International Downtown Association. Curator/Collector From the beginning, the Savannah College of Art and Design has been known as a venue for interesting exhibitions. In fact, the first space to open at the college was Exhibit A Gallery. This tradition has continued as new spaces were added to the array of galleries, hosting exhibitions of world-renowned artists and providing exposure for student, faculty and alumni work. Paula Wallace has served as curator, selecting exhibitors and specific work for exhibition, and she initiated and has augmented the college's permanent collection, which includes over 3,000 works by acknowledged masters and emerging artists. In addition, she has encouraged exhibition of college work in various international venues such as London, Milan, Paris, Cologne, Beijing and Shanghai. In 2002 she curated two exhibitions in Paris. Event Planner Seeing a need for events that celebrate the arts, Paula Wallace provided the impetus to create an annual Sidewalk Arts Festival, held each spring in Savannah's beautiful Forsyth Park. She also created the Savannah Film Festival, which attracts 25,000 filmmakers and film lovers each year. Other signature events held annually by the college include the Art Educators' Forum, a week of workshops for high school teachers, and Rising Star, a five-week residential program for rising high school seniors. These events, as well as lectures, plays, concerts and conferences, fill the college calendar and provide cultural offerings to the surrounding community. Administrator Throughout the college's history, Paula Wallace has served in several key administrative positions, including academic dean and provost. In recognition of her vital role to the success of the college, the Board of Trustees unanimously elected her president on April 14, 2000. In this capacity, she continues to lead the college to reach even higher levels of achievement, including the establishment in 2002 of a second campus in Lacoste, France. She has assembled a cabinet of vice presidents to oversee the various divisions of the world-renowned, international university for the arts, which operates with an annual budget of more than $126 million. Strategist Paula Wallace has demonstrated keen insight in many areas, most notably as a strategist who can assess potential for success and outline a workable plan for reaching achievable goals. As such, she has provided inspiration for faculty, staff, students and alumni to follow their dreams and achieve great things. Never content to rest on her laurels, Paula Wallace continues to plan and work for the future growth of the college. Philanthropist Within her strong persona, Paula Wallace possesses a compassionate heart that reaches out to those in need. She is committed to making a difference in her community and in the world. That commitment has led the college to perform an endless list of service projects ranging from illustrations to logo design, from architectural plans to historic district studies, from printed materials to public awareness videos and documentaries, and to a citywide public mural program. Virtually every other non-profit agency or institution in the city has been aided in some way by work donated from the Savannah College of Art and Design, its faculty, students, staff and alumni. This spirit of philanthropy inspired creation of the Service Opportunities for Students organization on campus, promoting the donation of time and talent by students to worthy causes in the community. A special project of note initiated by Paula Wallace is the college's renovation and preservation of the historic First African Baptist Church on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Personal Honors and Awards Personally, Paula Wallace has received such honors as being named an Outstanding Young Woman of America, being named to Who's Who of American Women, and being selected as Employer of the Year by the Oglethorpe Business and Professional Women for affording leadership opportunities to women. She has also served on the board of directors of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau of Savannah, the Savannah Cultural Affairs Commission and the Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum Board of Trustees. She continues to serve on the Savannah Advisory Board of Directors for BB&T Bank. She was named by former Governor Roy Barnes to the Georgia Film and Videotape Advisory Commission and serves on the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. SCAD president receives regional leadership award Paula Wallace earned a bachelor of arts degree from Furman University and M.Ed. and Ed.S. degrees from Georgia State University. She is married and the mother of three children.